Lucky to be alive - Charging Grizzly

Lucky to be alive: Alaska man w/ Ruger .454 drops charging grizzly
Story from Soldotna, AK via local rag, and the man's own version of events via the Ruger forum. Good pics of the dead bear, purportedly from the man:

Below is a copy of an e-mail a friend sent me yesterday morning, he said this happened Sunday in Soldotna, Alaska. One hell of a testimonal for a Ruger Alaskan .454 Casull.

"Subject: Fw: very, very lucky to be alive!

Have I got a story for you guys!

King season is over, and since i had a day off before silvers start, i thought i would go for a walk! this occurred at 11:16 am this morning (Sunday), just 2/10 of a mile from my house, ON OUR ROAD while walking my dogs (trying to get in shape for hunting season, ironically!) for the record, this is in a residential area-not back in the woods, no bowhunting, no stealth occurring...

I heard a twig snap, and looked back...full on charge-a huge brownie, ears back, head low and motorin' full speed! Came with zero warning; no woof, no popping of the teeth, no standing up, nothing like what you think or see on TV! It charged from less than 20 yards and was on me in about one-second! Totally surreal-I just started shooting in the general direction, and praise God that my second shot (or was it my third?) Rolled him at 5 feet and he skidded to a stop 10 feet BEYOND where I was shooting from-I actually sidestepped him and fell over backwards on the last shot, and his momentum carried him to a stop past where I fired my first shot!

It was a prehistoric old boar-no teeth, no fat-weighed between 900-1000 lbs and took five men to DRAG it onto a tilt-bed trailer! Big bear-its paw measured out at about a 9 1/2 footer!

never-ever-thought "it" would happen to me! its always some other smuck, right? well, no bull- i am still high on adrenaline, with my gut in a knot. feels like i did 10000 crunches without stopping! almost puked for an hour after, had the burps and couldn't even stand up as the troopers conducted their investigation! totally wiped me out-cant even put that feeling into words, by far the most emotion i have ever felt at once!

No doubt that God was with me, as I brought my Ruger .454 Casull (and some "hot" 350 grain solids) just for the heck of it, and managed to draw and snap shoot (pointed, never even aimed!) from the hip! Total luck shot!

All I can say is Praise God for my safety and for choosing to leave the wife and kids at home on this walk! Got a charter tomorrow, so gonna TRY to get some sleep now!

Damm, Black Blade - did you piss yourself during or after the shooting, - sorry man - I just can't imagine being anything other than scared shitless - you were absolutly being watched over by the Almighty, glad your still with us...

Woman attacked, killed by bear

Woman attacked, killed by bear
August 11, 2009

OURAY, Colo. -- An autopsy showed a 74-year-old Ouray County woman whose body was found being eaten by a bear was attacked and killed by that same bear after she attempted to help a smaller bear that had been hurt in a fight. The son-in-law of Donna Munson told 7NEWS that Munson was trying to help a smaller bear that had gotten into a fight with an older bear on Aug 7. The smaller bear suffered broken teeth in the brawl, Munson told her family. Munson told her brother by telephone that she was putting out hard-boiled eggs and milk for the younger bear to eat, said the victim's son-in-law. Munson told her brother Thursday night that the older bear was back and said, "I'm going to chase it off with a broom."

According to the county coroner, Munson was grabbed by the bear and it slashed her head and neck with such penetrating force that Munson would have bled out in 90 seconds. Sheriff's investigators said that the bear "clubbed" her through the wire fence that she had built around her porch, rendering her unconscious. It then grabbed her, pulled her underneath the fence to the back yard and then slashed her to death, the sheriff's office said. Later that day, a witness found a large bear feeding on Munson's body as it lay outside her home. When deputies arrived to investigate the report of a mauling on Friday, they were approached by a 250-pound bear, which was actively sniffing the body. A deputy with the Ouray Sheriff's Office fired six rounds and killed the bear. A necropsy on that bear showed that it neither attacked nor fed on Munson. On Saturday about 3 a.m., a second bear was acting aggressively towards investigators who were still at the house. A DOW investigator shot and killed that bear -- a 400-pound male . A necropsy on that second bear revealed human tissue as well as remnants of a shirt that Munson was wearing, according to the Ouray Sheriff's Office.

Officials said the DOW had known for years that Munson routinely fed bears and would not stop, even after repeated requests from the DOW. The remote nature of her home made observing possible wildlife violations impossible, the DOW said. Last year, the DOW sent a written notice to Munson and renters at her home warning of the dangers of feeding bears. "It got to the point where she never opened her door for us, allowed us on her property or answered her phone," said a DOW spokesman. "Our officers went above and beyond, in terms of gaining her cooperation." Munson had constructed a metal fence that covered her porch so that she could feed bears through the fence, wildlife officials said. There have been only two fatal bear attacks in Colorado in the past 100 years. The first was in Grand County in 1971, when a man was killed. The second incident was Aug. 10, 1993, in Fremont County when a 24-year-old man was killed. The coroner said her official cause of death was multiple traumas due to a bear attack. The manner of death was ruled to be accidental.

After what could be the first grizzly bear attack on a human in the Upper Green, a 46-year-old sheepherder was life-flighted to Idaho Falls early Monday morning after being seriously mauled.

The grizzly began its rampage in the early hours in a sheep herd grazing near Forest Road 617, at the eastern edge of the Gros Ventre Wilderness near Tosi Creek.

The herd is tended by Marcello Tejeda, of Rock Springs, and Jorge Mesa, both of whom were awakened by what they thought was a black bear in the sheep, according to their employer, rancher Mary Thoman of Fontenelle.

Monday, Thoman was concerned for Tejeda and her sheep, which have been harassed by predators all summer, she said.

"We have had a nightmare," she said of the W&M Thoman Ranches' forest allotments on the Upper Green. "Nothing but grizzlies and wolves all summer long."

At 3:30, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office received a call from Mesa that a bear had attacked a man and that an ambulance or doctor was needed to help him, according to preliminary reports.

Thoman said they have always had problems with black bears getting into the sheep but the grizzly situation has been worsening since 1998 when she said grizzlies were moved into that area from elsewhere.

"The dogs were raising heck and they thought it was a black bear," Thoman said her sheepherder told her.

This was a grizzly sow with one cub, though, she was told. Thoman said she recently saw a collared grizzly sow with three cubs that had "just showed up" but didn't know if they were the same animal.

The guard dogs stay with the sheep and protect them as best they can, she explained.

"Once they found out a bear was in the sheep the sheepherder (Tejeda) sent his (guard) dog in and the bear killed that one," Bardin related .

Tejeda then sent in another guard dog and apparently was attacked by the bear when he tried to save the second dog, which was killed, he said.

The sheepherder received a seven-inch gash on top of his head, two punctures to the left side of his chest, three claw wounds to the right side of his abdomen and a puncture wound to his right wrist, early reports stated.

"This is the first human attack there that I can remember," Bardin said.

Mesa used pepper spray - twice - to drive the bear away from Tejeda and then called Thoman for help.

Thoman said giving her sheepherders guns to shoot marauding predators isn't a solution - "or we just have more trouble."

Mesa then notified the sheriff's office, and a team was sent in including an Emergency Medical Services unit, Kendall Valley Fire Department's first-responders, three deputies and a Forest Service officer while Air Idaho, a search-and-rescue team and a doctor were put on standby.

Because of the poor travel conditions, a deputy drove Tejeda and Mesa (who had pepper spray in his eyes) out to a waiting ambulance and they were transported to the Pinedale Clinic.

Grizzly bear went back for seconds on an Alaskan biologist. The geologist survived and harbors no ill-feelings toward the grizzly bear.

What's worse than a grizzly bear attack? When that grizzly bear comes back to attack again. An Alaskan geologist was the recipient of two attacks but survived, and harbors no grudge against the grizzly.
(NEWSCOM/FILE)

The bearded, sandy-haired geologist was on a job in the remote Alaska wilderness when a grizzly bear suddenly emerged from the brush just yards away.

So Robert Miller did what he was trained to do — he fell to the ground, clasped his hands around his neck to protect it and played dead.

The bear wandered away and Miller thought he was in the clear. Pulling himself to his knees, he found out how wrong he was.

The bear charged again and "this time he didn't want me to move. He was really thrashing me around," the 54-year-old said Wednesday from his hospital bed, his right arm and leg swathed in bandages, his left ear criss-crossed by stitches.

Miller had been out scoping possible mining projects Sunday for his employer, Millrock Resources Inc., in a remote valley of the Alaska Range mountains near the Iditarod sled dog race trail. He'd finished for the day and was waiting for a helicopter to pick him up.

Miller was clearing brush with a handsaw so the helicopter could land, when the bear appeared about 25 feet (7.6 meters) away.

"When he stepped into the clearing he didn't snarl and stand up and show me how big he was. He just came for me," Miller said.

Miller managed to pull out his .357 Magnum revolver and squeeze off a single shot, possibly grazing the animal. Then his survival training kicked in: He fell onto his stomach, dug his face into the dirt and covered his neck with his hands to protect it from the grizzly's claws and teeth.

The bear went for his exposed right arm, gnawing and clawing it and chipping the bone off the tip of his elbow. The attack lasted 10-15 seconds, then the animal lumbered away.

"I thought it was over, I thought he was gone," Miller said.

He rolled over and was getting to his knees when the bear, which was only about 40 yards (meters) away, came at him again.

"As soon as I turned, he was running already. It was shoot, shoot and roll back over," Miller said.

He managed to fire two more shots, but with his right arm badly injured he thinks he missed the bear. Then he lay still as the animal gnawed and clawed at him.

"It was no problem to lay there with my neck covered and let him chew. It was actually painless at that point," Miller said.

After the second attack, Miller played dead again, lying still for three to five minutes as thoughts raced through his mind. Was the bear still around? How bad was he bleeding? Where was his gun?

He tried to move and realized he couldn't. He was too badly injured.

"I was just hoping my radio was still in my vest pocket and it was," he said. "I got it out and started radioing mayday, which nobody answered."

He tried calling for help about every 20 seconds; about 20 minutes passed before a voice came over the radio.

It was the helicopter pilot.

Not knowing there had been a bear attack, he was calling in to let Miller know he was within 5 miles (8 kilometers) and needed to know the exact pickup spot.

"I told him what had happened. So he came in low, just doing outwardly expanding circles to make sure there was no bear around," Miller said.

Reassured the grizzly was gone, the pilot flew to the next valley and picked up geologist Ryan Campbell, who was trained as a wilderness medic.

"When he was cleaning out the wounds with this spray bottle ... it was a mixture of fire and electricity," Miller said.

He was flown to a nearby air strip where an emergency medical technician was waiting, then taken by medical helicopter on the more than hour-long trip to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Miller was fortunate to have survived, said Rick Sinnott, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist.

He should have been packing a more powerful gun, Sinnott said. "You have to be a very good shot or very lucky to stop a brown bear with a .357 Magnum."

Miller did the right thing to play dead with the grizzly, Sinnott said.
"Most of the time they just want to neutralize you and if you are playing dead after they swat you or hit you, you are pretty much neutralized. But if you try to run or stand right up or are screaming or waving your arms around, then they think you are still a danger," he said.

Propped up in his hospital bed Wednesday, Miller gingerly touched what he thought were bite marks just above his buttocks on his left side. His right arm was heavily bandaged from bicep to wrist; another bulky bandage encased his right thigh, which the bear had chewed from the back of his leg to the front.

Miller's face was unscathed except for a few scratches, but the bear nearly ripped off his left ear. Using his finger, he traced where it had been reattached with two rows of stitches.

Still, the geologist, who until five years ago worked as a roofer, said he holds no grudge against the bear.

He should have been packing a more powerful gun, Sinnott said. "You have to be a very good shot or very lucky to stop a brown bear with a .357 Magnum."

Black Blade: Yes, he definitely needed a more powerful gun. A Tokarev will work for our smaller Grizzlies here in Wyoming but for those Alaskan Brown Bears I think you would be better off with a .45 Colt or a .454 Cassull or even better a .500 S&W.

When you're born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America , you get a front row seat. - George Carlin

A problem bear that has been frequenting Hillside homes and yards in recent weeks was subjected to shock therapy from police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker's Taser on Thursday morning.

After the small black bear got into a fish fryer on the porch, Parker decided to try a novel approach to deconditioning the animal to people, he said. He armed himself with a backup firearm and a personal Taser C2, which launches a 30-second burst of 100,000 volts, Parker said.

"I thought, 'Here is a wonderful opportunity to give this a test,' " Parker said. He fired out the window and hit the bear in the shoulder from about 15 feet, he said.

"The bear promptly went inverted, with feet in the air, growling and crying at the same time, flailing with his feet," Parker said. "He actually rolled off the porch."

When it was done, the bear sat up, shook his head, seemingly to regain his wits, and then bolted "faster than any bear I've ever seen," he said.